1+ week, 2+ day ago (569+ words) Brendan Carr, head of FCC, asks if programme ever aired in US which is seen as key to any future litigation A US media regulator led by a close ally of Donald Trump is examining whether an edition of the BBC's Panorama broke US regulations in the way it edited one of the president's speeches. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), led by Brendan Carr, has written to the BBC's outgoing director general, Tim Davie, asking whether the programme was ever aired in the US. Davie and the head of BBC News, Deborah Turness, resigned after complaints about the show by a former independent adviser to the broadcaster. The BBC has since apologised for splicing two clips of a speech Trump made before the Capitol riots in January 2021. Trump has since threatened to sue the corporation in Florida for up to…...

1+ day, 17+ hour ago (505+ words) Democratic safeguards won't work unless they're backed by the will of the people, argues Peter Loschi, while Roger Heppleston calls for wholesale reform of the British political system. Plus letters from Rob Hunter, Peter Buckman and Dr Piers Brendon Timothy Garton Ash has produced an excellent list of safeguards against extremism (My guide to populist-proofing your democracy " before it's too late, 25 November). Unfortunately, they don't work in the long term. The finest minds of the Enlightenment devised the checks and balances of the US constitution, and an authoritarian like Donald Trump brushed them aside in two minutes. Laws and regulations to guarantee good government only work if the people want them to. If they're not bothered, then no'amount of safeguarding is of much use. We could replace the House of Lords with a citizens' assembly, comprising a randomly chosen cross-section…...

3+ day, 8+ min ago (721+ words) The attack makes the troops" Washington DC exit less likely and offers a convenient data point for rightwing narratives "Washington DC is considered a safe zone," Donald Trump declared on Tuesday, veering off topic at the national Thanksgiving turkey pardoning ceremony at the White House. "This was one of the most unsafe places anywhere in the United States. It is now considered a totally safe city." A day later, two national guardsmen from West Virginia were shot in a busy area a few blocks from the White House in downtown Washington. The ambush took place outside the Farragut West Metro railway station within sight of the Guardian"s office (I had been in the station three hours earlier and witnessed national guard troops milling around). In a speech from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Wednesday evening, Trump said the…...

3+ day, 3+ hour ago (883+ words) Two national guard members were critically wounded in attack near White House " key US politics stories from Wednesday 26 November at a glance Two West Virginia national guard members were hospitalized in critical condition after they were shot near the White House in Washington. Local officials and federal authorities called the shooting a "targeted" attack and have a suspect in custody. In response, Donald Trump has ordered more troops to the nation's capital. US defense secretary Pete Hegseth said that Trump has asked for 500 additional troops to be deployed to Washington. "This happened just steps from the White House and it will not stand and that's why President Trump has asked me " and I will ask the secretary of the army to the national guard " to add 500 additional troops, national guardsmen, to Washington DC," Hegseth said. Trump's request for additional troops…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago (906+ words) Donald Trump says "we have nothing to hide" as Maga suspicions grow over files " key US politics stories from Monday 17 November at a glance Donald Trump has told his fellow Republicans in Congress to vote for the release of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in a sudden reversal of his earlier position. The US president"s post on his Truth Social website came after the House speaker, Mike Johnson, said previously that he believed a vote on releasing justice department documents in the Epstein case should help put to rest allegations "that he [Trump] has something to do with it. Late on Sunday, Trump wrote on his social media platform: "House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files because we have nothing to hide. "And it"s time to move on from this Democrat…...

4+ day, 5+ hour ago (759+ words) Trump's defense secretary orders US Navy secretary to investigate "potentially unlawful comments' made by Kelly " key US politics stories from 25 November 2025 The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, escalated attacks by Trump administration chiefs on Arizona senator Mark Kelly on Tuesday by ordering the secretary of the US navy to investigate "potentially unlawful comments" made by Kelly in a social media video with other lawmakers. Hegseth's order came in the form of a memorandum to John Phelan asking the Navy secretary to review Kelly and a group of fellow Democrats' comments in the video last week that sought to remind serving soldiers and intelligence officers that they have the right to refuse unlawful orders. Hegseth said in the memo that he wanted a brief from Phelan that he could review by 10 December. The Pentagon had issued a statement on Monday that…...

3+ day, 15+ hour ago (830+ words) Binaifer Nowrojee, Open Society Foundations president, said the organization would pursue legal action if necessary As Donald Trump menaces the Open Society Foundations (OSF), which funds a long list of progressive causes, Binaifer Nowrojee, the OSF president, says the global grant-making network will pursue legal action against the federal government if it must. "Open Society Foundation supports the right of free speech, supports the constitutional rights of organizations to be able to organize themselves, including through peaceful protest and is willing to actually ensure that those rights are upheld, including by going to court if need be," she said. Nowrojee spoke to the Guardian at the UN climate talks, known as Cop30, taking place in Brazil this month. She was attending the summit for the first time. Her remarks came as the Trump administration has been targeting the OSF in recent…...

2+ week, 4+ day ago (801+ words) President called the agreement that passed the Senate Monday "a very big victory" amid the record-breaking government shutdown " key US politics stories from 11 November 2025 Democrats" resolve cracked this week, when a splinter group in the Senate joined with the GOP to craft a compromise bill that reauthorizes government funding through January, without extending healthcare tax credits. Donald Trump called the agreement "a very big victory" during remarks at Arlington National Cemetery. "We"re opening up our country," the president said. "Should have never been closed, should have never been closed." The spending package has moved to the House of Representatives, which could vote on it as early as Wednesday. But top Democrats have vowed to oppose the bill for not addressing their demand for more healthcare funding. "It"s our expectation that the House will vote at some point tomorrow…...

4+ day, 22+ hour ago (773+ words) Designation of groups from Italy, Germany and Greece labelled "ridiculous" as experts say no active threat posed Experts have told the Guardian the same anti-fascist groups the US state department recently named as foreign terrorist organizations and accused of "conspiring to undermine foundations of western civilization" barely qualify as groups, let alone terrorist organizations, and pose no active threat to Americans. "The whole thing is a bit ridiculous," said Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, which tracks extremist movements worldwide, "because the groups designated by the administration barely exist and certainly aren"t terrorists." In a release put out earlier this month, the Trump administration, which has made no secret of its hatred for leftists in the US and abroad, named Antifa Ost in Germany, the Italy-based International Revolutionary Front, and two organisations in Greece…...

3+ week, 2+ day ago (491+ words) Kevin Roberts, whose group pushed Project 2025, had defended ex-Fox News host's talk with Nick Fuentes The leader of the conservative thinktank behind Project 2025 apologized for supporting a white nationalist amid turmoil on the right over the mainstreaming of extremist ideology, but is resisting calls to resign. Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, previously defended former Fox host Tucker Carlson for having Hitler fan Nick Fuentes on his podcast without pushing back on his white supremacist views. In leaked footage of a Heritage town hall from Wednesday, staffers largely said Roberts' decision to align the thinktank with Fuentes was a mistake. "I made a mistake and I let you down and I let down this institution. Period. Full Stop," he told Heritage staff. He also claimed he "didn't know much" about Fuentes before he recorded a video and posted…...